Tilting inversion exerciser

ABSTRACT

A tilting inversion exerciser includes a supporting stand for supporting a table and having a front frame and a rear frame pivotally coupled and foldable between an opened working position and a folded storing position, the front frame includes two side posts and a lower beam disposed between the side posts for forming a U-shaped structure, the lower beam includes a hand grip for being grasped by the user to sustain the user at a downwardly headed position and for allowing hands of the users to be located below a head of the user. The supporting stand includes one or more pads attached to each of the frames for stably supporting the frames at the opened working position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a tilting inversion exerciser, and moreparticularly to a tilting inversion exerciser including a support deviceor mechanism or hand grip for supporting the user and for giving somesecurity to the user while conducting the inversion exercises, andparticularly at the downwardly headed or up-side-down or invertedposition, and for providing a perch from which the invertee can applyadditional stretching loads to the body while in the inverted position,for example actually pulling on the hand grip to add a decompressionload in addition to the one supplied by gravity.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Various kinds of typical inversion suspension exercisers, rotationalexercisers, tilting inversion exercisers etc. have been developed andcomprise a table rotatably or pivotally attached to an upper portion ofa lower or base support with a pivot axle, and rotatable relative to thebase support for conducting various inversion or suspension exercises.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,125,372 to Teeter et al., U.S. Pat. No.7,507,192 to Teeter et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,585,264 to Wang et al., U.S.Pat. No. 7,625,327 to Teeter et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 7,867,154 toTeeter et al. disclose several of the typical inversion suspensionexercisers each comprising a table rotatably or pivotally attached to abase support and arranged for allowing the users to rotate the tablerelative to the base support, and to do various inversion or suspensionexercises.

However, when the table of the typical inversion suspension exerciser isrotated relative to the base support to an up-side-down position and tohave the user headed downwardly, the user may feel unsafe and may beafraid that his head may have a good chance to strike onto the ground,but the typical inversion suspension exercisers do not have any supportdevices or hand grips to support the user at the downwardly headed orup-side-down or inverted position.

The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate theafore-described disadvantages of the conventional tilting inversionexercisers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a tiltinginversion exerciser including a support device or mechanism or hand gripfor supporting the user and for giving some security to the user whileconducting the inversion exercises, and particularly at the downwardlyheaded or up-side-down or inverted position.

The other objective of the present invention is to provide a tiltinginversion exerciser including a hand grip to provide a perch from whichthe invertee can apply additional stretching loads to the body while inthe inverted position, for example actually pulling on the hand grip toadd a decompression load in addition to the one supplied by gravity.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided atilting inversion exerciser comprising a supporting stand for attachingand supporting a supporting table and for supporting a user on thesupporting table, the supporting stand including a front frame, and arear frame pivotally coupled to the front frame and foldable relative tothe front frame between an opened working position and a folded storingposition, the front frame includes two side posts and a lower beamprovided between the side posts for forming a U-shaped structure, thelower beam includes a hand grip provided thereon for being grasped bythe user to sustain the user at a downwardly headed position and forallowing hands of the users to be located below a head of the user.

The supporting stand includes at least one pad attached to each of thefront frame and the rear frame for frictionally supporting the frontframe and the rear frame at the opened working position.

A hand grip may further be provided and provided on a middle portion ofthe lower beam for being grasped by the user. The hand grip is curvedfrom the lower beam and spaced from a longitudinal axis of the lowerbeam for forming a space between the hand grip and the longitudinal axisof the lower beam.

The rear frame includes two side posts and a lower beam provided betweenthe side posts for forming a U-shaped structure, and a reinforcing barmounted between the side posts of the rear frame.

Two apex members may further be provided and attached to upper portionsof the side posts of the front frame respectively, and the side posts ofthe rear frame are pivotally coupled to the apex members with pivotaxles respectively.

A carrier may further be provided and pivotally attached to the apexmembers with bearing supports for supporting the supporting table. Twofoldable links may further be provided and coupled between the frontframe and the rear frame for stably supporting the front frame and therear frame at the opened working position.

Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from a careful reading of the detailed description providedhereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tilting inversion exerciser inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a lower supporting stand ofthe tilting inversion exerciser; and

FIG. 3 is a front plan schematic view of the lower supporting stand ofthe tilting inversion exerciser.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIG. 1, a tilting inversionexerciser in accordance with the present invention comprises a lowersupporting stand 1 for pivotally or rotatably supporting a base or table50 thereon, and for supporting a user 8 on the supporting table 50, thelower supporting stand 1 includes two U-shaped frames 10, 20, such as afront U-shaped frame 10 and a rear U-shaped frame 20 having upper endspivotally coupled together with two apex members 30 so as to form asubstantially inverted V-shaped structure (FIGS. 1 and 2), and forallowing the frames 10, 20 of the supporting stand 1 to be folded andsupported between an opened working position and a folded or compactstoring position.

The front U-shaped frame 10 of the lower supporting stand 1 includes twoside posts 11, 12 and a lower beam 13 formed or provided or coupledbetween the side posts 11, 12 for forming or defining the U-shapedstructure of the front frame 10, the apex members 30 are each disposedor attached or mounted or secured to the upper portion 14 of the sidepost 11, 12 of the front frame 10 respectively with one or more latchesor fasteners 31, and a bracket or carrier 32 is pivotally or rotatablyattached or mounted or secured or coupled to the apex members 30 withlatches or fasteners or pivot joints or bearing supports 33, and locatedbetween the apex members 30 and the side posts 11, 12 for supporting orcarrying the supporting table 50 and for pivotally or rotatablyattaching or mounting or securing or coupling the supporting table 50 tothe lower supporting stand 1.

The lower supporting stand 1 includes one or more, such as two handgrips 34 formed or provided thereon, such as formed or provided on theside posts 11, 12 or the apex members 30 respectively for being held orgrasped or gripped by the user 8. The supporting table 50 or the carrier32 includes an extension 35, such as an adjustable extension 35 attachedor coupled or extended from the lower portion thereof for supporting anankle holder or foot retaining device 36 and for holding or retaining orpositioning the feet of the users 8 to the carrier 32 and the supportingtable 50. The extension 35 may be extended or adjusted relative to thesupporting table 50 for moving or adjusting the foot retaining device 36toward or away from the supporting table 50, according to the height ofthe users, for example.

The rear U-shaped frame 20 also includes two side posts 21, 22 and alower beam 23 formed or provided or coupled between the side posts 21,22 for forming or defining the U-shaped structure of the rear frame 20,the upper portions 24 of the side posts 21, 22 of the rear frame 20 arepivotally or rotatably attached or mounted or secured or coupled to theupper portions of the side posts 11, 12 of the front frame 10 or to theapex members 30 with pivot axles 25 respectively (FIG. 2) for allowingthe rear frame 20 to be folded or moved toward the front frame 10 to thefolded or compact storing position, and to be opened or moved away fromthe front frame 10 to the opened working position as shown in FIGS. 1and 2. The rear frame 20 further include a reinforcing bar 26 disposedor attached or mounted or secured between the side posts 21, 22 of therear frame 20 for reinforcing the rear frame 20.

One or more (such as two) foldable links 27 may further be provided andattached or mounted or secured or coupled between the side posts 11, 21;12, 22 of the frames 10, 20 respectively for solidly and stablyanchoring or securing or retaining the frames 10, 20 at the openedworking position. The above-described structure or configuration for thetilting inversion exerciser, including the carrier 32 and the hand grips34 and the foot retaining device 36 and the supporting table 50 istypical and is not related to the present invention and will not bedescribed in further details. The lower supporting stand 1 may furtherinclude one or more (such as two) cushions or pads 15, 28 attached ormounted or secured to the bottom portions of the side posts 11, 21; 12,22 or the lower beam 13, 23 of the frames 10, 20 respectively forcushioning or frictionally supporting the frames 10, 20 at the openedworking position.

The front frame 10 of the lower supporting stand 1 includes an upwardlyfolded or extended or curved portion or segment or hand grip 16 formedor provided or extended on or in the middle or central portion 19 of thelower beam 13 and curved or offset or spaced from a longitudinal axis 17of the lower beam 13 for forming a compartment or space 18 between thehand grip 16 and the longitudinal axis 17 of the lower beam 13 or thesupporting ground or surface 70 (FIG. 3), and thus for allowing the handgrip 16 to be suitably held or grasped or gripped by the user 8 (FIG.1), particularly while conducting or operating the rotational or tiltinginversion exercises and when the user is headed downwardly.

In operation, as shown in FIG. 1, the supporting table 50 and the user 8may be pivoted or rotated relative to the lower supporting stand 1 tothe up-side-down position where the user 8 is headed downwardly, at thismoment, the user 8 may feel unsafe and may be afraid that his head 88may have a good chance to strike onto the supporting ground or surface70. The user 8 may hold or grasp or grip the hand grip 16 to solidly andstably support and maintain or sustain or retain the user 8 at thedownwardly headed or up-side-down position where the hands 80 of theuser 8 are located below the head 88 of the user 8, such that the user 8may feel much more safely to conduct the inversion exercises.

It is to be noted that the user 8 may hold or grasp or grip the handgrip 16 that is formed or provided or extended on or in the middle orcentral portion 19 of the lower beam 13 such that the hands 80 of theuser 8 may be located below the head 88 of the user 8 and such that theuser 8 may feel much more safely and may give some security to the userwhen at the downwardly headed or up-side-down position. In addition,another function of the hand grip 16 of the invention is to provide aperch from which the invertee can apply additional stretching loads tothe body while in the inverted position, for example actually pulling onthe hand grip 16 to add a decompression load in addition to the onesupplied by gravity. Furthermore, the hand grip 16 may be directlycurved or folded or formed on the lower beam 13 such that the hand grip16 may be easily and quickly formed or manufactured without additionalmanufacturing procedures.

Accordingly, the tilting inversion exerciser in accordance with thepresent invention includes a support device or mechanism or hand gripfor supporting the user and for giving some security to the user whileconducting the inversion exercises, and particularly at the downwardlyheaded or up-side-down or inverted position, and the hand grip mayprovide a perch from which the invertee can apply additional stretchingloads to the body while in the inverted position, for example actuallypulling on the hand grip to add a decompression load in addition to theone supplied by gravity.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure hasbeen made by way of example only and that numerous changes in thedetailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:
 1. A tilting inversion exerciser comprising: a supporting standfor attaching and supporting a supporting table and for supporting auser on said supporting table, said supporting stand including a frontframe, and a rear frame pivotally coupled to said front frame andfoldable relative to said front frame between an opened working positionand a folded storing position, wherein said front frame includes twoside posts and a lower beam provided between said side posts for forminga U-shaped structure, said lower beam includes a hand grip providedthereon for being grasped by the user to sustain the user at adownwardly headed position and for allowing hands of the users to belocated below a head of the user.
 2. The tilting inversion exerciser asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said supporting stand includes at least onepad attached to each of said front frame and said rear frame forfrictionally supporting said front frame and said rear frame at theopened working position.
 3. The tilting inversion exerciser as claimedin claim 1, wherein said a hand grip is provided on a middle portion ofsaid lower beam for being grasped by the user.
 4. The tilting inversionexerciser as claimed in claim 1, wherein said hand grip is curved fromsaid lower beam and spaced from a longitudinal axis of said lower beamfor forming a space between said hand grip and the longitudinal axis ofsaid lower beam.
 5. The tilting inversion exerciser as claimed in claim1, wherein said rear frame includes two side posts and a lower beamprovided between said side posts for forming a U-shaped structure, and areinforcing bar mounted between said side posts of said rear frame. 6.The tilting inversion exerciser as claimed in claim 5, wherein two apexmembers are attached to upper portions of said side posts of the frontframe respectively, and said side posts of said rear frame are pivotallycoupled to said apex members with pivot axles respectively.
 7. Thetilting inversion exerciser as claimed in claim 6, wherein a carrier ispivotally attached to said apex members with bearing supports forsupporting said supporting table.
 8. The tilting inversion exerciser asclaimed in claim 1, wherein two foldable links are coupled between saidfront frame and said rear frame for stably supporting said front frameand said rear frame at the opened working position.